Hard Times Made Easier
by lolalicecullenlmfao
Summary: Bella and Edward are dating. They break up due to a promotion that Edward has gotten. They are reunited but under odd circumstances. Will their love survive? Much better than it sounds. I suck at summaries. AH. ExB, JxA, EmxR
1. Chapter 1

Hello readers (: Before you start ths story I want to give you some background information.

**Families**

Swans:Bella, Charlie, Rosalie and Renee

Whitlocks:Jasper and Emmett

Cullens:Edward, Esme and Carlisle

Brandons:Alice

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight** **or the characters. Dang it. **

**Prologue- March 2007**

I was absolutely and blissfully happy**. **I had a great job and an absolutely amazing boyfriend that I love. He makes me so happy. He's caring and sweet and not to mention gorgeous. I met him through my best friend, Alice, who is dating his best friend, Jasper. We've been dating for about 6 months and we currently live together. I had just pulled in to my usual parking spot in front of the grocery store when I heard my cell phone go off. The front screen said: **Alice**. Normally, I would be tempted to ignore it because she is obsessed with taking me shopping with her, but today I needed to talk to her.

"Hey Ali!"

"Hey Bells. What's up?"

"Not much. I'm at the grocery store picking things up for dinner. What about you?"

"Aw. Darn. I wanted to see if you wanted to go shopping with me tonight."

"Yeah. I'm sorry Alice. Maybe next time. But right now I need your advice."

"Okay. Shoot."

"Okay. Well Edward came home today and he kept smiling at me and kept telling me how much he loved me. And then when I asked him what was going on he just smiled and told me that it was a surprise. What do you think it is Ali?"

"Bella. He's going to propose!"

I was shocked. No, not shocked. Way more than shocked. 10 notches above shocked.

"Alice. I highly doubt he's going to propose."

"Bella, can I ask you a question?"

"Uh. Sure Alice."

"How many times have you been proposed to?"

"Umm...none?"

"Exactly. And how many times have I been proposed to?"

"Once."

"Yes. Once and that means I know more than you."

I laughed at Alice's logic. "Yes Alice, I suppose you're right."

"I always am." She replied simply. "Toodles Bella!"

"Bye Alice." I shut my phone and proceeded to check out and head back to my car.

On my way home I was thinking more about what Alice had said. Maybe he would propose. But maybe he wouldn't. I wasn't going to get my hopes up. When I pulled into the parking lot of our apartment building, I checked my face in the mirror. I was completely flushed with stress. Darn that Alice for stressing me out. After calming down a little more I hopped out of my car, grabbed the groceries and headed up the stairs to our apartment. I quickly realized that I had left my purse in the car, so I had no key. I silently cursed myself for being so forgetful and gently knocked on the door. I waited very impatiently for Edward to answer. When he finally came to the door, he smiled his crooked smile that I love and said "Forget your keys again?"

I shot him a playful glare and said "So? What's it to you?"

He chuckled and kissed me on the cheek. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me into the living room. When he had sat me down he looked at me intently.

"Bella, I was going to wait until after dinner to tell you this, but I'm too excited." He paused and looked at me before I nodded and encouraged him to go on. " Today my boss came to me and and said 'What's holding you in Seattle?' and I said my friends, my job and most importantly, my Bella. Then he said 'Well this decision is entirely up to you'..." Edward trailed off.

I looked at him curiously and spoke up. "What's up to you?"

He looked at me and then sat down in the chair next to mine and grabbed my hands. "Bella love, I'm moving to New York and I want you to come with me." He lookec at me and I stared back at him wonderingly. I just sat there staring at him for what seemed like hours when I finally found my voice.

"New York? I can't just leave Seattle. I mean. I have work and my family and Alice. I can't just leave them."

"But Bella, I can't leave you. I love you."

"I love you too, but I can't leave."

"I thought this would be a good thing."

"I'm sorry Edward. I'm so sorry. You deserve this promotion. Have fun in New York." Then I stood up and ran out of the apartment. After I had gotten to my truck I realized that I was crying. I drove blindly and I somehow ended up at Alice's. I knocked on the door and when she answered, she gave me a sad, sympathetic look and pulled me inside. Then she sat me on the couch, got a blanket and layed down next to me as I cried. I finally fell asleep and when I woke up Alice was still next to me holding my hand. She smiled a little when she saw that I was awake.

"You want something to eat?" She asked.

"Sure." I croaked.

Abotu 10 minutes later she came back holding a plate of toast stacked high and coffee just the way I like it. 2 teaspoons of sugar and 4 teaspoons of hazelnut coffee creamer. Then she asked "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"He's leaving." I said automatically.

"WHAT?! WHERE?" She screamed at me. Her shrieking was giving me a headache.

"New York." I said calmly.

"Aw. Bells, I'm sorry."

"I know, Ali. It's going to be okay." I put my head in her lap as she stroked my hair.

"Did you tell him?'

"What?"

"Bells! Maybe he would have stayed if he knew!"

"Another reason not to tell him. He deserves this promotion. He's worked hard for it."

"You're going to have to tell him eventually you know."

"Yeah, I know...Just not now."

Then I began crying again.

**Every reviewer gets a virtual cookie and maybe a small exerpt from chapter 1 (: **

**So read and review.**

**Or I will set the vile Mike Newton on you. (: **

**I love you all! **

**Alice**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Woot! Second Chapter (: **

**Me: Emmett, would you like to do the disclaimer? **

**Em: Sure. Alice doesn't own squat.**

**Alice: WHAT?! i do own things! *stomps off, pouting***

**Em: Thanks alot. You got me in trouble! *stomps off, pouting* **

**Me: Well....I own nothing! **

**Enjoy! **

Chapter 1- September 2007

"Alice! Make them stop crying!"

"Bella. There's 3 of them. When 2 fall asleep the other starts to cry and wakes the other 2 up!"

Yes. Just 2 mere weeks ago, I welcomed motherhood. I am now the proud (and very tired) mother of triplets. I have a son (EJ) and 2 daughters (Renesmee and Carlie). I love them to death, but they are just so dang loud.

"Ali?"

"Yes, Bella?"

I looked at her and smiled. "Have I ever told you that you're a saint?"

She looked amused. "No. But Bells, I have a life too. If you would stop being stubborn and just tell Edward that you are the mother of his children..then he would come help you!"

"Mary Alice Brandon. I swear, if you bring up his name one more time."

"Edward's crying."

"Alice!"

"I meant your son, Bella! He's crying. Go!"

"Oh. Right!"

I dashed out of the room to grab EJ. I smiled down at my beautiful son. He had his dad's green eyes and my brown hair. The girls were the opposite. They had my brown eyes and Edward's bronze hair. They truly were beautiful children. After I calmed EJ down and had layed him down to go to sleep, I sat down in the rocking chair next to Carlie's crib. I began rocking back and forth and before I knew it, I was asleep. I was probably asleep for 10 minutes before I was rudely awakened by my cell phone beeping in my pocket. I ran out of the nursery so I wouldn't wake the babies. I looked down at my phone and it said Mom.

"Hey Mom." I whispered.

"Honey, why are you whispering?"

"I don't want to wake the babies." I answered back.

"Oh. Okay. Well I was calling to tell you that you're sister just got engaged!" My mom said excitedly.

"Oh. Cool."I said, still drowsy from my nap.

"Yes darling. Well we are having a little meet and greet with the happy couple over here at Charlie's next week. Are you up for it?"

"Yeah mom. I'll just have to get a sitter for the babies."

"Oh no! The babies have to come! I've barely spent any time with them!"

"Okay mom."

"Oh! And bring Alice too!"

"Okay mom."

"Oh and Jasper and Emmett will come of course?"

"Of course mom."

"Oh! How delightful! Okay sweetie! Talk to you later."

"Bye mom."

I hung up the phone and smiled to myself. A weekend alone with my family and close friends. This was going to be fun.

"Alice!" I called.

"Yes, Bella?" She called back.

"How would you like to go to an engagement party at Charlie's?"

Alice was upstairs in 5 seconds flat.

"Who's engaged?"

"Rosalie."

"Oh. That's cool. Uhmm...sure I'll go."

"Awesome! I'll call Emmett and you can call Jasper."

"Em and Jazz are invited?" She said excitedly.

"Yup."

She started squealing and I couldn't get my hand over her mouth fast enough. All 3 babies began to cry. I groaned. Alice just laughed. This weekend couldn't come fast enough.

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**Love it? Hate it? **

**Tell meee!! **

**That green button isn't just there to look pretty you know (;**

**Love you all! **

**Alice**


	3. Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!

I am so so so so sorry! I am a terrible author that never updates!  But! I'm making it up to you! I'm posting an extra long chapter that was originally supposed to be 2 chapters! So enjoy! I love you guys!

Chapter 3-September 2007

After 3 agonizing hours of driving in the car with Emmett and Alice singing the song 'Halo' by Beyonce over and over and over again, we were finally in Forks. When we pulled into Charlie's driveway I jumped out of the car to greet my parents. Emmett grabbed both Carlie and Renesmee, still asleep in their car seats, and ran to the front door where my parents were standing.

"MOM! DAD! How I've missed you!" Emmett was screaming. I just laughed as Renee moved right past Emmett and Alice were standing to the babies. Then she noticed Jasper and I and hugged us both as Em and Alice looked on with wide open mouths. I just smirked and mouthed "Karma". Emmett, finally tired of being ignored said "Okay, okay now where is Rose and her mystery man?" I felt bad. Emmett had always harbored feelings for Rose that she never returned. Charlie turned to Emmett and said "They are going to be a little late."

Emmett shrugged and said "Okay then let's chow down!" Then he stood along with Jasper and hi-fived him. After putting the babies in the guest room, I joined them in the dining room. After about 10 minutes of chatting and eating we heard the front door open and Rosalie stepped into the room, grinning like an idiot. Then she looked at all of us and began to pout. "Hey! Why didn't you wait?"

"You snooze, you lose Rosie!" Emmett laughed.

Rosalie was about to say something nasty, but she looked at Emmett and smiled as if she was finally looking at him as a person and not just some bum who used to hang around our house. Her smile faltered a little once she realized what she was doing and said "Ugh. Whatever. You're so immature. Anyways, I'd like to introduce you to my fiancé, Edward." That was when my world stopped. My heart stopped. My breathing stopped. There standing in my father's dining room was the father of my children. I spit out what I was drinking and whispered "Edward". Alice gasped and Jasper went pale. Emmett quickly realized who it was and jumped over the table, tackling Edward. Alice started screaming things like "How dare you!" and "You hurt my best friend. Time to hurt you!" Edward had gotten up and was now being cornered by Emmett. Rosalie, my mom and Charlie just looked confused. Rosalie looked horrified at how the evening had completely taken a terrible turn.

"Stop!" I screamed. Everyone turned to look at me.

"Bella. This scum bag left you when you were…were." Emmett trailed off.

"He didn't know, Em." I said quietly.

"What? You told me you were going to tell him!"

"I was! But I couldn't do it. I knew he would come straight from New York and lose his promotion." I stated sadly.

"Okay what the hell is going on?" Rosalie demanded.

Charlie raised his finger to reprimand her for language, but decided against it when Rose gave him and evil glare that clearly said 'mess with me and die. '

I sighed and gestured for everyone to sit. Edward was the only one that didn't. He stayed in his corner clearly afraid of sitting that close to Emmett.

"Okay. Back in October Edward and I started dating. We dated for a little over 6 months. One day in March, Edward came home and told me that he had gotten a promotion and he was leaving to go to New York. I had found out that I was pregnant about a month and a half before Edward and I broke up." I took a deep breath and sat back down. I looked down at my plate of food and started moving my food around my plate. I could feel everyone staring at me and I felt the tears start to fall onto my lap. I finally got up and ran out the back door, Rose in hot pursuit. I ran up the wooden stairs of our old tree house and curled up with my knees tucked into my chest. I felt Rose sit next to me. I prayed that she wouldn't yell or hit me even though I would have deserved it. She wrapped her arm around my shoulder and shushed me.

"Sshh Bells, It'll be okay." I looked up at her and cried into her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Rosie! I didn't mean for this to happen."

"No Bella. It's not your fault. I should have never gotten engaged to him. It's my fault."

"Rose. It's not your fault. How were you to know that you were engaged to the father of my children?"

She sniffled. "I suppose you're right."

I gave her a watery smile and said "Do I still get to be you're maid of honor?"

She laughed and said "Bella only someone as deranged as you would think to say something like that. Do you honestly think that I would still marry Edward?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I think we could work something out."

"Bella. That would be something straight out of the Jerry Springer show!"

We both laughed until we were crying, clinging onto each other and holding our stomachs. We finally calmed down enough so that we could form sentences.

"I love you, little sis." Rose said.

"I love you too, big sis." I smiled at her. Then we walked back into the house hand in hand. When we walked back into the house everyone had turned to look at us. Rose smiled and I asked Edward to come with me. I owed him an explanation. We walked out of the dining room and into the hallway.

"What the hell, Bella?" Edward said angrily. "Were you just never going to tell me that I fathered a child?"

"I was going to tell you when you were more settled in your job so that you wouldn't come back. You deserved that promotion Edward."

"Bella, I turned down the job in New York."

"What?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and said "Once I got to New York I realized that I was choosing my job over my loved ones. I caught the first plane home. When I got home your things were gone. And you changed your phone number. I was devastated. It was like losing you all over again."

"Obviously, I'm not that special. You were engaged to my sister 10 minutes ago!" I said hotly.

"Bella, I couldn't get over you! I tried to start dating again, but I would always pick something out that wasn't like you and run with it. When I met Rosalie, I felt happy again and jumped the gun. I don't know what came over me, I just proposed. But Bella believe me when I tell you that my love for her pales in comparison to my love for you."

"You still love me?" I asked, tears threatening to escape.

"Of course, my Bella." Then he leaned down to kiss me. It was soft and sweet. At that moment, Emmett came out of nowhere and screamed "WHAT THE HELL?!"

Both of us said "Go away, Emmett."

He huffed and said "Fine", But then ran off screaming "Someone get me a phone. I'm calling Jerry Springer!"

Both Edward and I chuckled but then I cringed as I heard Renesmee, Carlie and eventually EJ start crying. "Curse Emmett and his screaming." I muttered. Then I smiled and said "Would you like to meet them?"

I saw him stiffen and say "Them? As in twins?"

I just chuckled again and pulled him inside the room where our babies were sleeping. I went in and grabbed 3 pacifiers and put them in their mouths. They stopped crying immediately. I looked at Edwards shocked face and instantly felt bad for not warning him.

"Oh. Edward I'm so-"He cut me off with a kiss.

"They are beautiful." He said looking at them. "What are their names?"

"Well this little guy's name is EJ. It stands for Edward Jr. And the little girl in pink is Renesmee and the little one in green is Carlie. Would you like to hold one?"

"What if they don't like me?" He whispered.

I touched his cheek and smiled. "They love you. They stare at your picture all the time. I think it calms them, especially Renesmee. She's going to be a daddy's girl."

I watched him go over to Renesmee's crib and pick her up. The way he looked at her made me cry. He had just picked her up and he was already totally in love with her. He was going to be a great father. I could already tell. He looked up at me and saw me crying I just gave him a watery smile and waved it off. He must have known that they were happy tears. He is good at reading people after all.

**(: Sooooo…what did you think?! **

**Was it good? Bad? You have to tell me! It makes me sad when I see lack of reviews! So review people! Review! **

**I love you all dearly! **

**Alice (: **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! I know it's been a while since I've updated :/ but, ta-da! I'm back! (: Anyways, I'm going to keep the author's note short! So enjoy (: **

**Chapter 5- September 2008**

**BPOV**

Every morning, before the sun was even thinking about rising, Carlie would wake up and begin to cry, waking the others. Then I would shake Edward and we would roll out of bed and run to our children. I love saying that. Our children. It made everything real.

I rolled over to check my alarm, wondering why Carlie hadn't woken up yet. I rolled back over and stared at Edward for a while. Getting impatient just staring at him, I shook him. He awoke with a jolt and rolled off the bed. I laughed loudly as he got up off the floor scowling. Then he suddenly smiled.

"You have a beautiful laugh." He said, still smiling.

"Why, thank you. You are just beautiful." I replied smiling back.

He chuckled and got back on the bed. "Well thank you, Bella. As much as I love being awake and giving each other compliments, why are we awake at…" He trailed off and leaned across me to look at our clock. "3 in the morning?! What the hell, Bella?"

I was startled. Edward had never yelled or spoke to me like that before. I got out of bed, put on my robe and slippers and went to lie down on the couch. I heard Edward running behind me. He kneeled down next to the couch.

"Bella, darling. I'm sorry. I never lose my temper with you. I'm truly sorry." He said quietly.

"I was worried about Carlie. She didn't wake up tonight like she normally does and I was scared, so I woke you up, so we could check on her. Then when you yelled I got upset and left." I said starting to tear up. Darn my sensitive nature!

"Oh, Bella. I'm sorry. Don't cry. Please don't cry." He said wiping the tears away. "Please forgive me?"

"You know I do." I said.

"I love you, Bella."

"I love you too. Now can we go check on Carlie?" I asked.

He nodded and grabbed my hand, pulling me off the couch. Then we walked hand in hand to the nursery. When we opened the door to the nursery, I let go of Edward's hand and walked straight to Carlie's crib.

I reached in to grab her as Edward checked on Renesmee and EJ. She was burning up. As soon as I had her in my arms she awoke and began to wail. My mother's intuition kicked in and I knew that there was something terribly wrong with my baby. I just had to find out what.

**Eeep. Sorry guys! I have to keep a little bit of drama in the story. I may not be able to update for a while, due to an injury that makes it hard for me to write, type, etc. but, I'm trying! But what do you guys think? Love it? Hate it? You have to let me know (: I love you all to bits! Oh! Special shout out to n.h. cullen and P3NGZ13 for all of their amazing reviews and support! I love you guys! (: **

**Alice**

**P.S: I am in need of a beta. Can anyone help me? Thanks! (: **


	5. Authors Note

Hey Guys!

I'm soooo sorry that this isn't an update! (Sorry if I excited you). Anddddd I'm really sorry I haven't updated in like 10,078,089,373 years! I have been super busy moving to a completely different state on top of other stressful situations :/ buuuuttttt! once i get settled and unpacked and all that fun stuff you will have an update coming your way (: please, please, please don't give up on me!

I love you all dearly!

Alice


	6. Author's Note 2

**Important Author's Note: I'm sorry to say that due to lack of response in both of my stories and because I'm super busy with extracurricular activities I will be putting them both on hiatus. I'm sorry to everyone that enjoyed my stories...**


	7. Yet another author's note!

**Hello all, again. I know that I said that I was taking a break from my stories possibly forever, but I was wondering if anyone would like to adopt my stories? I really feel bad about abandoning them like this. I just can't take the stress of writing stories and all the other stuff I have on my plate too. So if there is anyone intrested in taking on my stories please PM me. Have a wonderful day! (: **


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